Event determination and invitation generation

ABSTRACT

An invitation is created on a social network. To create the invitation, a computer receives, from a social networking program operating on a first computer system by an event program operating on a second computer system, data from a social networking post. The computer identifies, by the event program, information from the data associated with a first member of a social network. The computer determines whether the information includes information about a future event that the first member intends to participate in. The computer generates an invitation to a second member of the social network for the future event based on the information about the future event. The computer transmits the invitation for the social networking post for sending by the social networking program to a user device of the second member of the social network.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to event determination andinvitation generation, and more particularly to determining an eventbased on a social networking post and generating an invitation to theevent in a social network.

BACKGROUND

Online social networks are well known, and examples include LinkedIn,Google+, Facebook, and various additional online social utilities thatsupport social networking. Such social networks can grow as theirmembers discover and connect with like-minded or compatible people whohave similar interests or experiences. Without social networks,identifying like-minded people often requires a substantial amount oftime and effort, because identifying new people with common interestsfor friendships is difficult. For example, when two strangers meet, itmay take a long conversation to discover their common interests orexperiences. Social networks often attempt to streamline or evenautomate this process.

Social networks track and enable connections between their members(including people, businesses, and other entities). In particular,social networking websites allow their members to efficientlycommunicate information that is relevant to friends or other connectionson social network. Social networks typically incorporate a system formaintaining connections among members in the social network and formaintaining links to content that is likely to be relevant to themembers. Social networks also collect and maintain information abouttheir members. This information may be substantially static, such asemployer, job type, age, music preferences, interests, and a variety ofother attributes, or it may be more dynamic, such as a member'sgeographic location, or his or her actions within the social network.

A typical modern computer-implemented social networking applicationallows each member to provide some biographical information, to identifyhis or her interests, and to make social networking posts about his orher status and daily life. Social networks can also suggest to themember other members with compatible interests. For example, each membercan fill out a profile or provide other personal data such asprofessional interests, career information, and interests in music,books, and movies. Matching algorithms can then use the profile to matchmembers with other members who are deemed compatible by the algorithms,under the assumption, for example, that matching people's interests andvalues can lead to successful new friendships or relationships within(or outside of) the social network.

Typically, when a member of a social network wishes to share informationwith other members of the social network, the member uploads or copiesand pastes the information to a location on the social network as asocial networking post, or sends the information in the form of aprivate message or email to other members.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide for a program product,system, and method to create an invitation on a social network. Tocreate the invitation, a computer receives, from a social networkingprogram operating on a first computer system by an event programoperating on a second computer system, data from a social networkingpost. The computer identifies, by the event program, information fromthe data associated with a first member of a social network. Thecomputer determines whether the information includes information about afuture event that the first member intends to participate in. Thecomputer generates an invitation to a second member of the socialnetwork for the future event based on the information about the futureevent. The computer transmits the invitation for the social networkingpost for sending by the social networking program to a user device ofthe second member of the social network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a social networking environmentin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram including communications sentduring the performance of event determination and invitation generationin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting steps followed by a social networkingprogram and an event program during the performance of eventdetermination and invitation generation in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a computer system in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of social networkingenvironment 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention is shown. Social networking environment 100 includes network110, user device 120, user device 130, event server 140, and socialnetworking server 150. Network 110 can be, for example, a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or acombination of the two, and can include wired or wireless connections.In general, network 110 can be any combination of connections andprotocols that will support communications via various channels betweenuser device 120, user device 130, event server 140, and socialnetworking server 150 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Persons 102 and 104 can use social networking system 100 to participatein a social network with one another as discussed below.

In various embodiments, each one of user device 120, user device 130,event server 140, and social networking server 150 can include a laptop,tablet, or netbook personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a mainframe computer,or a networked server computer. Further, event server 140 and socialnetworking server 150 can be computing systems utilizing clusteredcomputers and components to act as single pools of seamless resourceswhen accessed through network 110, or can represent one or more cloudcomputing datacenters. In general, each one of user device 120, userdevice 130, event server 140, and social networking server 150 can beany programmable electronic device as described in further detail withrespect to FIG. 4.

User device 120 and user device 130 each includes a social networkclient program, which operates as a client of social networking program152. Each social network client program provides person 102 or person104 with access to the social network at least partially hosted bysocial networking server 150. A social network client program caninclude, for example, a web browser or a stand-alone client program.User device 120 and user device 130 also each includes an event clientprogram, which operates as a client of event program 142. An eventclient program can include, for example, a web browser or a stand-aloneclient program. In one embodiment, the event client program isdistributed as an add-on to the social network client program, or incombination with the social network client program.

Social networking server 150 includes social networking program 152,which provides social networking services to members of its socialnetwork, such as person 102 and person 104, via their user devices, suchas user device 120 and user device 130, each having a social networkclient program. The provision of social networking services includestracking and enabling connections between members (including people,businesses, and other entities) or subsets of members. The connectionsand membership may be static or dynamic and the membership can includevarious subsets within a social network. As such, substantially everymember of the social network has multiple “friends” (i.e., has multipleconnections to other members) in the social network. Further,substantially every member of the social network also hasfriends-of-friends (e.g., has an extended network of more-distantconnections, who are each “reachable” in the social graph by traversingtwo or more friend connections). The provision of social networkingservices also includes enabling members to participate in, comment on,and create content as a means of communicating with their social graph,as well as the public. Social network content includes, among otherthings, member profile pages, private messages between members, publicposts made onto a member's own profile page by the member, public postsmade on another member's profile page by a different member, and tags ofmembers in public photographs, for example. Profile pages can include acombination of public and private information about a member that isvisible to other members according to the member's privacy settings.Public posts can include member-generated text, as well as hyperlinks,pictures, or other forms of media. The permutations involving membershipand content in a social network are many and not intended to belimiting.

As stated herein above, when a member of a social network wishes toshare information with other members of the social network, it is knownfor the member to upload or copy and paste the information to a locationon the social network as a social networking post, or sends theinformation in the form of a private message or email to other members.However, certain forms of information lack adequate context to enablerecipients to respond in a useful way. Therefore, using currenttechniques, the quality and type of shared information in socialnetworks is limited, and members may be less likely to share informationwith each other as a result.

According to embodiments of the present invention, event server 140includes event program 142, which provides event determination servicesand invitation generation services to social networking program 152.Event server 140 can communicate with user device 120 or user device 130during the provision of these services, via an event client program ofeach user device. Event server 140 can also refer to dictionary andrules database 144 while providing such services. The provision of eventdetermination services and invitation generation services includesperforming text analytics on a member's social networking posts todetermine if the member of the social network is posting about anupcoming event. Text analytics can be performed using an UnstructuredInformation Management Architecture (UIMA) application configured toanalyze unstructured information to discover knowledge that is relevantto event program 142, by processing plain text and identifying entities,such as persons, places, organizations; or relations, such as going-toor located-at. Upcoming events can include, for example, locationevents, travel events, leisure events, business events, or any otherevent or activity that will take place in whole or in part in thefuture. If event program 142 determines the member of the social networkis posting about an upcoming event, then event program 142 presents tothe posting member a command which the member may invoke to generate oneor more invitations to the event in association with creating the socialnetworking post, so that the member's friends (and, in variousembodiments, the member's extended network) can more readily learn aboutthe posting member's plan to attend the event and can join the member atthe event. In various embodiments, the member is provided with an optionto select specific friends to invite to the upcoming event. Havingcoordinated with the member, event program 142 also coordinates withsocial networking program 152 to have the social networking postdisplayed in combination with an invitation flag, for example. Theoperation of event server 140 is discussed in detail below.

FIG. 2 depicts communications 260 through 270 between user device 120,user device 130, event server 140, and social networking server 150 sentduring the performance of event determination and invitation generationin accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.Each communication depicted in FIG. 2 can be transmitted via network 110(not shown), for example.

Communication 260, sent from user device 120 to social networking server150, includes a social networking post prepared by person 102 that willbe displayed by social networking program 152 as a public post made onthe profile page of person 102. For example, the social networking postcan include the text “This Saturday I will be going to the library withmy daughter.” In one or more embodiments of the invention, socialnetworking server 150 posts the social networking post immediately forviewing by other members of the social network on a profile page ofperson 102 in parallel with further operations described in detailherein below. The immediately-available social networking posts can bedescribed as a “bare” social networking post. For example, if person 104were to use user device 130 to access the profile page of person 102 atthe presently described stage of operation, then in communication 270the profile page of person 102 along with the bare social networkingpost would be transmitted to user device 130. However, as discussedbelow, after further operations communication 270 will includeadditional information.

Communication 262 is sent from social networking server 150 to eventserver 140, and may be responsive to social networking server 150receiving communication 260. Communication 262 includes the socialnetworking post, an instruction to perform event determination andinvitation generation, and additional context information relevant tocompleting the instructions. Upon receiving communication 262, eventprogram 142 generates a blank event record and performs text analyticson the social networking post's text (e.g., “This Saturday I will begoing to the library with my daughter,” in the example given above) todetermine if person 102 is posting about an upcoming event. During theanalytics process, the blank event record is filled in with eventinformation. To perform text analytics, event program 142 can parse thetext using a text parser and compare the text against information indictionary and rules database 144. Dictionary and rules database 144 caninclude definitions for words, synonyms for words, and rules forsentence construction and interpretation. For example, the text “ThisSaturday I will be going to the library with my daughter” can be parsedinto portions involving actions, times and dates, places, andparticipants.

In particular, event program 142 can determine an action in the text ofthe social networking post, based on the text “will be going to” andalso based on a rule that identifies the use of the future tense in asocial networking post. Typically, use of the future tense is a keyindicator that a social networking post might be about a planned event.Further, event program 142 can fill out the blank event record with thetime and date of the calendar date of the next Saturday, according to arule that identifies the phrase “[this] [day of week]” as one whichspecifies a date in the future as being the next following instance ofthe stated day of the week. Further, event program 142 can fill out theblank event record with the place of the library closest in proximity toperson 102, or closest in proximity to a residence of person 102, basedon geographic information about person 102 transmitted from socialnetworking server 150 as additional context information in communication262. Further, event program 142 can fill out the blank event record withthe participants identified in the social networking posts, identifiableby use of the text “I” and “my daughter.” The use of the text “I,” as anindicator that person 102 himself or herself will be participating inthe planned event, is a key indicator that the social networking post isone that an invitation should be generated for (because, generally,individuals are more likely to send out invitations to events that theywill also be participating in personally).

Thus, after receiving communication 262, event program 142 has performedtext analytics to generate and fill in an event record with detailsabout a possible future event involving person 102 and his or herdaughter, on a Saturday following the date the social networking postwas made, at a library. Event program 142 can use a quality rule andquality threshold in dictionary and rules database 144 to determine ifthe event record includes enough information of a sufficient quality todetermine that the possible future event is likely. In particular, thequality rule can take into account what percentage of the blanks in theoriginal blank event record have been filled in during the textanalytics process. If all of the blanks have been filled in, such thatthe event record is data rich, then the resulting quality score will behigh. Further, the quality rule can also take into account an eventhistory of person 102, transmitted from social networking server 150 incommunication 262. For example, if the event history of person 102 showsthat person 102 has traveled with his or her daughter to the library onthe weekend in the past, then the resulting quality score for the eventrecord will be higher than if no such event is shown in the eventhistory.

If the quality score of the event record satisfies the qualitythreshold, then event program 142 will treat the event record, generatedfrom the social networking post, as a bona fide future event for whichinvitation generation will be performed. In one embodiment, prior togenerating invitations, event program 142 first confirms the event withand seeks additional details from person 102, by sending the eventrecord in communication 264 to user device 120.

At user device 120, upon receiving communication 264, the event clientprogram prompts person 102 to determine if the details in the eventrecord are correct. If event program 142 made an error during theperformance of text analytics, then person 102 has an opportunity tocorrect them. For example, if the library determined by event program142 is not the correct library, then person 102 can select a differentlibrary. Further, if event program 142 left blanks in the event recordduring the performance of text analytics, then person 102 has anopportunity to fill the blanks in. For example, because a specific timeis not stated in the social networking post, person 102 can fill in thisblank in with, for example, the information “10:00 AM.”

Event client program also prompts person 102 with the option to selectspecific members of the social network to invite. For example, person102 can invite all of his or her friends on the social network, or aportion of his or her friends made by manual selection, or a subset ofhis or her friends predefined as a group. In particular, in the currentexample, person 102 might want to invite the group of all of his or herfriends who are parents, as well as their children, to the library. Theevent client program can facilitate the selection process by presentingperson 102 with a locally-stored copy of his or her friends, in oneembodiment. In another embodiment, the event client program can retrievethe friends of person 102 from social networking server 150. Afterperson 102 has determined that the event record is correct and completeand has selected specific people or categories of people to invite, thenuser device 120 sends this information to event server 140 incommunication 266.

Having determined that the social networking post includes a bona fideevent for which invitation generation will be performed, and having sentcommunication 264 and received communication 266 in response, eventserver 140 proceeds to generate invitations. Invitations may be generic,or may be tailored for individual recipient members. In one embodiment,event server 140 generates invitations by generating a web pageincluding all relevant information about the future event, and bygenerating a hyperlink to the web page. In one embodiment, the web pagemay be hosted on event server 140, while in another embodiment the webpage may be hosted on social networking server 150. After generating theinvitations, event server 140 transmits the invitations to socialnetworking server 150 in communication 268. In an embodiment in whichthe invitation web page is hosted on event server 140, the invitationtransmitted in communication 268 includes a link to the web page. In anembodiment in which the invitation web page is hosted on socialnetworking server 150, the invitation transmitted in communication 268is the actual web page to be hosted.

Having received communication 260, sent communication 262, and thenreceived communication 268, social networking program 152 has thusreceived the social networking post including its text (e.g., “ThisSaturday I will be going to the library with my daughter”), as well as agroup of invitations to the determined future event for the selectedmembers of the social network. Social networking program 152responsively posts the social networking post for viewing by othermembers of the social network on the profile page of person 102, alongwith a link to the invitations. The link to the invitations can beposted in the form of an invitation flag, a hyperlink, or by any othertechnique suitable for indicating that the displayed post is actionablein a manner to display the invitations.

After social networking program 152 posts the social networking post forviewing, person 104 can access social networking program 152 via userdevice 130 to view the profile page of person 102 as well as thedisplayed social networking post, transmitted in communication 270. Ifperson 104 is one of the specific members of the social network selectedby person 102 to receive the invitation, then communication 270 willinclude the link to the invitation in combination with the socialnetworking post, so that both can be displayed on user device 130 and sothat person 104 can accept the invitation. Person 104 can accept theinvitation by, for example, clicking on the link to the invitation, sothat the invitation is transmitted to user device 130 from the locationwhere it is hosted (e.g., at event server 140 or at social networkingserver 150). However, if person 104 was not selected, then communication270 will not include the link to the invitation and person 104 will seeonly the bare social networking post.

FIG. 3 depicts flowchart 300 including steps followed by socialnetworking program 152 and event program 142 during the performance ofevent determination and invitation generation in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. In step 310, a social networkingpost is received from a user device of a member of a social network. Forexample, social networking program 152 can receive a social networkingpost in communication 260 including the text “This Saturday I will begoing to the library with my daughter” from user device 120.

In step 312, text analytics are performed on the social networking postto generate an event record. Text analytics can be performed using anUnstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA) applicationconfigured to analyze unstructured information to discover knowledgethat is relevant to event program 142, by processing plain text andidentifying entities, such as persons, places, organizations; orrelations, such as going-to or located-at. For example, event program142 can receive the social networking post from social networkingprogram 152 in communication 262 and perform text analytics on the postto generate and fill in an event record. In step 314, a qualitydetermination is performed on the event record to determine if the eventrecord represents a bona fide future event. For example, event program142 can apply quality rules to the event record to determine if aquality threshold is satisfied. If so, the event record represents abona fide future event.

In step 316, errors in the event record are corrected, blanks in theevent record are filled in, and specific invitations are determined. Forexample, event program 142 can send communication 264 to user device120, with which person 102 can correct errors, fill in blanks, anddetermine specific invitations to other members. Having completed thesetasks, user device 120 can send results back to event program 142 viacommunication 266. In step 318, invitations are generated based on anevent record. For example, event program 142 can generate invitations bygenerating a web page including all relevant information about thefuture event, and by generating a hyperlink to the web page, which canbe hosted on event server 140 or social networking server 150, and canultimately be displayed on user device 130.

In step 320, the social networking post and invitations are posted forviewing by invited members of the social network. For example, socialnetworking program 152 can receive the invitations in communication 268,and can make the social networking post and the invitations availablefor viewing by other members of the social network on the profile pageof person 102, along with a link to the invitations. The link to theinvitations can be posted in the form of an invitation flag, ahyperlink, or by any other technique suitable for indicating that thedisplayed post is actionable in a manner to display the invitation. If aviewing member utilizing user device 130 is one of the specific membersof the social network selected by person 102 to receive the invitation,then he or she will see the link to the invitation in combination withthe social networking post. The viewing member may select the link, andresponsive to the selection the hosting server (e.g., event server 140or social networking server 150) may transmit the invitation to userdevice 130, so that the viewing member may accept the invitation uponviewing it. However, if the viewing member was not selected, then he orshe will see only the bare social networking post.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a functional block diagram of a computer systemin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown.Computer system 400 is only one example of a suitable computer systemand is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of embodiments of the invention described herein.Regardless, computer system 400 is capable of being implemented and/orperforming any of the functionality set forth hereinabove.

In computer system 400 there is computer 412, which is operational withnumerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of well-known computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse with computer 412 include, but are not limited to, personal computersystems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheldor laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloudcomputing environments that include any of the above systems or devices,and the like. Each one of user device 120, user device 130, event server140, and social networking server 150 can include or can be implementedas an instance of computer 412.

Computer 412 may be described in the general context of computer systemexecutable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by acomputer system. Generally, program modules may include routines,programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Computer 412 may be practiced in distributed cloud computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloudcomputing environment, program modules may be located in both local andremote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

As further shown in FIG. 4, computer 412 in computer system 400 is shownin the form of a general-purpose computing device. The components ofcomputer 412 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processorsor processing units 416, memory 428, and bus 418 that couples varioussystem components including memory 428 to processing unit 416.

Bus 418 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Computer 412 typically includes a variety of computer system readablemedia. Such media may be any available media that is accessible bycomputer 412, and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, andremovable and non-removable media.

Memory 428 can include computer system readable media in the form ofvolatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 430 and/or cache432. Computer 412 may further include other removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of exampleonly, storage system 434 can be provided for reading from and writing toa non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typicallycalled a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive forreading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk(e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from orwriting to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, eachcan be connected to bus 418 by one or more data media interfaces. Aswill be further depicted and described below, memory 428 may include atleast one program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of programmodules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments ofthe invention.

Program 440, having one or more program modules 442, may be stored inmemory 428 by way of example, and not limitation, as well as anoperating system, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, and program data or somecombination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 442 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as describedherein. Each one of event program 142 and social networking program 152can be implemented as or can be an instance of program 440.

Computer 412 may also communicate with one or more external devices 414such as a keyboard, a pointing device, etc., as well as display 424; oneor more devices that enable a user to interact with computer 412; and/orany devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer 412to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Suchcommunication can occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces 422. Stillyet, computer 412 can communicate with one or more networks such as alocal area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or apublic network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 420. Asdepicted, network adapter 420 communicates with the other components ofcomputer 412 via bus 418. It should be understood that although notshown, other hardware and/or software components could be used inconjunction with computer 412. Examples, include, but are not limitedto: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external diskdrive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storagesystems, etc.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for creating an invitation on a socialnetwork, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, from a socialnetworking program operating on a first computer system by an eventprogram operating on a second computer system, data from a socialnetworking post; identifying, by the event program, information from thedata associated with a first member of a social network; determining, bythe event program, whether the information includes information about afuture event that the first member intends to participate in; andgenerating, by the event program, an invitation to a second member ofthe social network for the future event based on the information aboutthe future event.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the stepof: transmitting, by the event program, the invitation for the socialnetworking post for sending by the social networking program to a userdevice of the second member of the social network.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of: receiving, by the eventprogram, a correction to the information about the future event from auser device of the first member of the social network.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of: receiving, by the eventprogram, additional information about the future event from a userdevice of the first member of the social network.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising the step of: receiving, by the event program, aselection of the second member of the social network from a user deviceof the first member of the social network.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of: receiving, by the event program, anacceptance of the invitation from a user device of the second member ofthe social network.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determiningwhether the information includes information about a future eventincludes performing text analytics on the information.
 8. A computerprogram product for creating an invitation on a social network, thecomputer program product comprising: one or more computer-readabletangible storage devices and program instructions stored on at least oneof the one or more storage devices, the program instructions comprising:program instructions to receive, from a social networking program, datafrom a social networking post; program instructions to identifyinformation from the data associated with a first member of a socialnetwork; program instructions to determine whether the informationincludes information about a future event that the first member intendsto participate in; and program instructions to generate an invitation toa second member of the social network for the future event based on theinformation about the future event.
 9. The computer program product ofclaim 8, further comprising: program instructions to transmit theinvitation for the social networking post for sending by the socialnetworking program to a user device of the second member of the socialnetwork.
 10. The computer program product of claim 8, furthercomprising: program instructions to receive a correction to theinformation about the future event from a user device of the firstmember of the social network.
 11. The computer program product of claim8, further comprising: program instructions to receive additionalinformation about the future event from a user device of the firstmember of the social network.
 12. The computer program product of claim8, further comprising: program instructions to receive a selection ofthe second member of the social network from a user device of the firstmember of the social network.
 13. The computer program product of claim8, further comprising: program instructions to receive an acceptance ofthe invitation from a user device of the second member of the socialnetwork.
 14. The computer program product of claim 8, whereindetermining whether the information includes information about a futureevent includes performing text analytics on the information.
 15. Asystem for creating an invitation on a social network, the systemcomprising: one or more processors, one or more computer-readablememories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, andprogram instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors viaat least one of the one or more memories, the program instructionscomprising: program instructions to receive, from a social networkingprogram, data from a social networking post; program instructions toidentify information from the data associated with a first member of asocial network; program instructions to determine whether theinformation includes information about a future event that the firstmember intends to participate in; and program instructions to generatean invitation to a second member of the social network for the futureevent based on the information about the future event.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, further comprising: program instructions to transmit theinvitation for the social networking post for sending by the socialnetworking program to a user device of the second member of the socialnetwork.
 17. The system of claim 15, further comprising: programinstructions to receive a correction to the information about the futureevent from a user device of the first member of the social network. 18.The system of claim 15, further comprising: program instructions toreceive additional information about the future event from a user deviceof the first member of the social network.
 19. The system of claim 15,further comprising: program instructions to receive a selection of thesecond member of the social network from a user device of the firstmember of the social network.
 20. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: program instructions to receive an acceptance of theinvitation from a user device of the second member of the socialnetwork.